Reach Across the Gap
by Shadu
Summary: Jack has returned after a twenty years to find that Torchwood has been rebuilt and restaffed, and there's a new order of things. However, he's life is about to be flipped around when a mysterious, but familiar, person arrives soon after. SPOILERS for CotE
1. Chapter 1

All was quiet that night as Jack Harkness found his way back to Earth. It had been ten years since he had run away and gone to explore the universe as he had before his days in Torchwood.

Torchwood.

The name still ran shivers down his spine. It wasn't the name itself that he hated; it was the memories attached to it. Torchwood, the place he had joined without any choice. Torchwood, the place he had made and lost so many friends. Torchwood, the place that had taken Dr. Owen Harper, genius Toshiko Sato, and archivist Ianto Jones's lives away from them at such a young age.

Of course, Ianto Jones meant more to him than anyone else. Ianto Jones, a man who died in the line of duty. Jack still couldn't forgive himself for that. If it hadn't been for him, Ianto Jones might still be alive and breathing today. Same with Tosh and Owen, however, he didn't feel the same sting. Ianto had died so young, and come to find out, he hid himself from everyone at Torchwood Three.

But he had left that life behind. He pulled himself out of that rut before he lost anyone else. Last time he had been on earth, he had seen Gwen and she was six months pregnant. Her kid would be born and growing by now.

Jack popped his back as he breathed in the cool night air. He was back in Cardiff, as painful as he found it. It wasn't actually where Ianto died, though Tosh and Owen did, but everything he saw reminded him of the young man. Ianto might have started a new life in London, and lost it there as well, but he did most of his living in Cardiff, under the watchful eye and constant protection of the Captain himself. And yet, when it mattered, even Jack couldn't save him.

He started walking down the bay, where he had been dropped off. Ferries and boats were just starting to come in, finishing up their last runs of the day. Night was blanketing the sky, a silver moon rising higher into the star-filled night.

He smelled the salt in the air, the wind whipping up off the fridge waters. His pace slowed almost to a stop as he came up on a little wooden door on the bay, built into the side of a walkway. For a fleeting moment, he thought of going inside. However, the lump in his throat and the way his mouth dried out told him he probably shouldn't. Still, who would know? Whoever was there now probably wouldn't recognize him. Probably.

He stopped, standing there and just looking. He wanted to know, and at the same time, he dreaded what he might find in there. How bad could it be? Well, bad enough. Still, he wanted to see.

Reluctantly, he made his way over to the wooden door. The outside still looked like he remembered it. It still looked like it was a tourist shop. New door though. New wood on the passageway. Someone obviously rebuilt after the explosion. He remembered that vividly. Being in the middle of an explosion, literally, is not something easy to forget. He wondered if the Hub had been rebuilt along with it.

He noted there was a sign overhead, proudly announcing that this was a "Tourist Information" shop. Ianto would've hated that. Big and gaudy. The young man he knew and loved would never want anyone to notice him.

Opening the door, he heard the tinkle of a little bell. Looking around, he noticed that this shop looked better kept than the one he remembered. The wood was newer, fresher. It made sense in his head, and yet, he still longed for that musky smell of the old wood. Everything on the counter was in neat piles and groups, but there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it. Ianto always had a system; he knew where everything was at all times, and he organized everything on the desk down to the last detail. The beads to the back office had not been replaced with new beads. Instead, it was another wooden door, which currently stood open. There was a small window beside it, looking into the office. The glow of a screen eerily filtered out into the room Jack stood in now. There was a map on the wall by the door, but no bulletin board. Jack remembered Ianto had one of those when he ran the shop. Still, on the back wall, beside a large map of all the United Kingdom, was a whiteboard with black scrawls on it. Jack could make out only half the writing.

A man came out from the office as Jack looked around more.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his young voice thick with the accent of a native Welsh man.

Jack looked over at him in surprise. This man was young too, no older than twenty-five or twenty-six. He was wearing blue jeans that ended in black boots. Underneath his black blazer was a red t-shirt and a silver chain and medallion bearing the symbol of Wales. He stood only about as high as Jack's shoulder with inquisitive hazel eyes. There was a bit of stubble gracing his face, matching the natural dark color of his short, brown, spiky hair.

"We're just about closed," he added, looking at the watch face on the bottom of his wrist.

"Oh, sorry," Jack flashed a smile. "I didn't realize the time. Last time I was here, this place was a pit, literally." He made a motion imitating an explosion.

"Oh, yes," he nodded. "They started to rebuild it soon after the explosion, since this is such a big tourist spot. They finally finished the work in late 2010. I was put here shortly after. Been working here ever since."

"I suppose it has been a while since I've been in Cardiff. What was your name?"

"Me? Oh, my name is Clyde. Connor Clyde at your service," he smiled.

"Well, good to meet you, Connor Clyde," Jack grinned, walking out of the tourist shop. "Sorry for keeping you. Have a good night."

Connor Clyde was about to go back into the office, but then his eyes widened as he realized he recognized that man. He had never seen him before, just heard stories and seen pictures, but he knew him from the paper and documents he saw.

"Wait!" he called, running to the door. "Captain Jack! Captain Jack Harkness! Wai-" he ran out onto the bay, coming to a stop, "-it…"

The mysterious man in the great coat was gone like a ghost. Just a whisper in the night, and he wondered if he had imagined it all.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack walked out of the bar he had stepped in for a drink. The night was dragging on, but then, that is what tended to happen when you sleep very little. Jack did need sleep, just not as much as everyone else. He looked to the stars, wondering what he was going to do with the rest of his evening. He found himself wondering why he had even told his traveling buddies to leave him here until he found another ride. Now he was dreading the potentially long wait here in Cardiff.

A shiver ran down his spine, even through his great coat. It wasn't the fact that he felt the cold bite of the weather; it was just the ghosts of his past. He almost thought he could feel Ianto's spirit whispering through the wind, but he shrugged that off as longing and want.

He truly missed the young man.

He found it amazing how attached he had gotten to someone, even when he told himself that he would never let it happen again. Still, Ianto had been something special. After his girlfriend, Lisa, had died, he had become kind of distant. Jack found, however, that after Ianto had forgiven him, he was very receptive. Jack figured he just needed someone stable.

It was after Ianto found out that his leader couldn't die that he really started to show an interest in Jack. He supposed the promise of someone who couldn't die would seem very appealing after all the death he had experienced in Torchwood London.

Jack had been told by Gwen later that when it was all said and done, no one really knew Ianto. The real Ianto anyway. He had hid himself from everyone, maybe because he was afraid of what might happen should he show his real feelings. Jack had always suspected something like that, but never pressed the issue. Jack hid things from people all the time, so trying to get Ianto to share his innermost secrets would be very hypocritical of him.

Jack was musing over all this as he meandered down the Cardiff streets. He used to know them so well, and found that while a few things had changed here and there, for the most part, nothing had changed. He still basically knew his way around the city.

Jack's attention was suddenly focused on a man across the street. He was tall and lean, wearing a dark hood. He was trying to stay in the shadows, looking back and forth, staying hunched over slightly. He looked Jack's direction just for a moment, but for Jack, it was enough. He only saw the man's face for a second, but it made his heart freeze.

Against his better judgment, Jack decided to follow the shifty figure through the darkness. The shadow weaved down the streets, and for a while, Jack wasn't sure he knew where he was going.

Eventually, Jack was led him into a late-night shopping mall. In the light of the mall, Jack could finally get a good look at him, but just the backside. Even from the back, the clothes the man wore were tattered and dirty. His thick, brown pants were threadbare or holey. The black hood was tearing at the seams, and the dark jacket worn over the hoodie was darned in several places with patches of fine ash covering it. However, this time, the man kept his face turned away from Jack, almost as though he knew he was being followed.

Of course, Jack revised, he probably did.

He paused, looking around and causing Jack to stop after walking over to pretend to investigate a nearby store front. It was a clothing store. Jack's nose involuntarily wrinkled at the clothes in the window. He couldn't believe that people were wearing that. Hopefully, he thought, they would go out of style soon. He watched the man closely out of the corner of his eye, slowly pulling out a stopwatch from his coat pocket.

He tried not to think about the device's history. It would've made his current assignment next to impossible. It was, in fact, Ianto's old stopwatch. Its yellow faceplate had been cracked in the explosion of the hub, but was still readable. Jack had considered getting it fixed, but couldn't bring himself to. He didn't want to change a thing from the day he salvaged it from the ruins. The tarnished silver was still smooth after years of use. It was old, but Jack couldn't let it go.

The man Jack was following looked at the map of the mall, studying it carefully. Jack could see his hand was resting on his chin, stroking it just a bit. He lifted a finger and touched something on the plastic surface as though making sure he knew where it was. Then, he was off again.

Jack waited a few beats, counting the seconds on the ticking stopwatch, and then, giving one last, disdainful look at the ugly display, fell in step behind him as he began following the man again. He knew how far he needed to stay away. He had tracked many people before. He feared that his thin cover was already blown, however, as the man had seen him earlier in the street.

He led Jack up the escalator, past many other stores, including book, game, movie, and clothing stores, right to the food court. On the second floor, the food court stood next to the entrance to an arcade.

The tempting smell of food swam over Jack, and he took a sniff. Many different scents mixed together, but Jack found he could tell the different scents from each other. There was pizza, burgers, he thought he smelled Chinese and fried chicken.

In spite of the late hour, the food court was still bustling with people, even at this late hour. Of course, most of the people in the food court now were either teenagers or drunks.

Jack watched from a distance. He considered sitting down at a table, make himself look less conspicuous, but decided against it; what if he needed to get away quickly?

The man looked around, checking every direction. Jack could easily see the man knew what he was thinking of doing was wrong, but felt he had to anyway.

One last glance around and he moved towards the buffet that was off to one side just as the attendant stepped back into the kitchen. Jack watched in disbelief as the man first stuck some food into his mouth and then took napkins and started placing food into them, wrapping them up and shoving them into pockets on his coat. He grabbed meats and breads, taking some from each tray.

Jack looked around. No one else noticed this. The drunks didn't care and the teenagers were so caught up in their own thing that they never even looked over. He couldn't believe teenagers these days. Security wasn't anywhere to be seen either. He knew that if he didn't do something, the man would be long gone by the time they go here.

Jack sprang into motion, coming up behind the man.

"Hey," he sharply called.

He reached out and grabbed the man's arm, but the man didn't like that at all. Reacting quickly, the man twisted himself around, jabbing his elbow into Jack's gut and causing him to groan. Another swift move and Jack was on the ground, lying on his back and blinking in shock.

His mind was screaming to ask what just happened, but he couldn't get words to come out of his mouth.

By this time, the security guards were swarming onto the scene, but for a brief moment that seemed to last forever, Jack was looking up into the man's face. The looming face, the man who was standing over him with his foot on Jack's chest, he knew. The hood had been flung off, and the shadows dispelled, and Jack found his mind swimming.

He could only find one thought as the security guards drug the struggling man away.

That man was Ianto Jones.


	3. Chapter 3

"Please Andy," Jack pleaded. "Just do this for me? For old time's sake?"

When Jack had regained his wits about him, he had begun to ask questions. He found out where they had taken the man, the man whose face was Ianto's. It was, understandably, the local police station. Jack had moved quickly, making his way to the police station.

He had been here so many times before. Gwen used to work here, for one thing; Weevils and Roman guards had shown up there; he had been forced to bail Owen out a few times, and Ianto once or twice for a misunderstanding. That shop-lifting conviction from his teen years had always haunted his ex-employee.

Here he was now, once again, trying to bail a person out. The police had already taken him in and processed him, questioned him. Andy told Jack that the man wasn't speaking to them at all. He hadn't said a word since he was brought in, other than to answer the question of why he was stealing food. He was hungry and had no money.

"I'm sorry Jack, but I can't do that," Andy shook his head. "You know I can't."

"Aww, come on Andy. What about the old days?" Jack smiled. "You used to release prisoners to me, no questions asked."

"That's back when you were in the business of sorting out spooky-dos. You're not in charge of that anymore. You've been missing for years. You don't have any authority here anymore. I'm sorry Jack."

"Look," Jack put his arm around Andy's shoulders and pulled him close, speaking low into the blonde's ear, "I'm sure you've noticed who he looks like."

Andy's eyes scanned around the room before responding softly, "He looks like Ianto."

"But that's impossible, isn't it? Because we both know he's dead."

Andy nodded. "Died ten years ago."

"Exactly. So, why does that man in there look exactly like him?"

Andy paused. "I dunno."

"It's possible it's another alien. Now, you could bother…whoever is in charge of Torchwood now."

"Gwen."

"What?"

Andy's eyes glanced up at Jack's face. "Well, Gwen took over after she had the baby. Doesn't keep hours like you though."

"Okay," Jack bobbed his head. "You could bother Gwen at this late hour, or you could risk this actually being a dangerous alien, turning things into a dangerous situation, or you could just release him to me and let me handle it."

Andy nodded rapidly as he considered the options. "Yeah, yeah…"

"Now, I don't think you want to bother Gwen, probably incur the wrath of Rhys the rant, and I _know_ you don't want to deal with this…how did you put it?...'Spooky-do' yourself. So, if you just release him to me, I'll sort it."

"Well, when you put it that way," Andy shrugged. "I'll have him right out to you."

Jack smiled. "Good lad."

Jack waited as Andy went to get Ianto's clone. A million thoughts and emotions were running hot through Jack's mind. He tried to quell them, however. He refused to jump to conclusions. He would hear this…thing out. Give it a chance to tell its story. Whether he would believe it or not, he didn't know yet, but he would at least let it try.

Andy returned, walking the Ianto look-alike ahead of him. Andy's prisoner was in handcuffs with a surly expression on his face. Jack could understand that. The few times he had been in jail, he had hated it. Okay, well, actually, it had been several more times than a few, but who was really counting?

Andy undid the handcuffs and handed him over to Jack, giving him one last warning before letting the pair walk out of the station.

"What's your name?" Jack asked as they left the station.

"Why should I tell you?" the man snorted a laugh. "Not like you'll believe me anyway, I suspect."

Jack gave him an annoyed stare. "Try me."

The man took a deep breath. "My name is Ianto Jones."

"Bloody liar!" Jack roared, stopping him and spinning the man to face him.

"See, I called it."

"I knew Ianto Jones. He died ten years ago."

"And yet, that is my name."

"What species are you?"

"Human."

"Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not. I'm human."

"You're telling me you're not an alien?"

"Precisely."

"Rubbish! Why did you choose him? His identity? How dare you?!"

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm human. Check my DNA."

Jack growled, turning away and rubbing furiously at his chin. Then he turned back. "Why did you steal food?"

"Changing the subject?"

"For now. Tell me."

The man rolled his eyes. "I was hungry. I have no money or food and I haven't eaten for a while. I'm starving. I just wanted something to stop the pain in my stomach. That's all."

Jack sighed. "If I give you something to eat, will you tell me the truth?"

"Yes. I'll tell you what's going on. But you must keep an open mind."

"Alright, come on then."

Jack started off in the direction of food place. The man calling himself Ianto followed him. They walked in silence, listening to the sound of the city. Somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed.

"He meant something to you, didn't he? This…other Ianto Jones," Ianto called.

Jack froze. "Maybe."

"Don't deny it. I can tell. That's the only reason you'd get so worked up over the resurfacing of a name."

"He was special to me, yes. I promised him I would never forget him. And I find that I can't."


End file.
